Trying to Understand the Fencing Phenomenon

Whether by phone, email, or in person, I get a lot pitches about just what it is we need in our schools. Actually, it can be quite overwhelming at times. So, when our District Principal of our Sports Academies said “I had to meet the fencing guys,” well, you can understand my skepticism.

Then, I met Igor Gantsevich, National Fencing Champion, World Cup & Pam American medalist. Now, several months later, there is something amazing happening in our district. We have had well over 2,000 students exposed to fencing through their PE classes, and in six of our schools out-of-school fencing clubs have started up, with more clubs possible and a district-wide showcase envisioned. And, this may just be the beginning, as Diane Nelson, District Principal of Academy Programs said in a recent North Shore News story, “Our vision is an international academy on the North Shore where students from all over the world would come to train. We hope that students from West Vancouver would funnel into this academy and receive scholarships for Ivy League schools.”

I have never tried fencing. My total exposure to it, until a few months ago, was watching some of it in Olympic coverage every four years, usually waiting for some other sports coverage, because despite it being part of the Olympic games since 1896, it is not a sport with a rich history in Canada. But Igor, the BC Fencing Association, and former World Champion Vitaly Logvin, and the current President of the international charity For Future of Fencing, are planning to change this.

Initially, we envisioned exposing students to fencing through PE classes this year, then looking at club programs next year and maybe an academy in the future. The timeline is speeding up — with club teams this year and interest from families for academy programming in the near future. As someone who grew up on hockey and ball sports, it is all quite amazing to see. When we featured a story on fencing for our district e-news publicationLearning Curve, the ‘click rate’ dwarfed everything else in the edition. So what is going on? I have some thoughts on this:

The fencing instructors are first class. Igor has a wonderful way with students and he has brought in former Olympic medalists to support him with the teaching. Teachers and instructors for these types of programs make the difference.

There is a fair bit of equipment involved and the providers have taken care of all of the first class modern equipment for students to use.

Although most students had previously never tried fencing, they had seen it at the Olympics or elsewhere, and there is a ‘cool factor’ to try it out.

Fencing is a multi-age sport that can be done together with girls and boys; so, it is very inclusive.

Since nobody has really practised fencing before, the skill levels are quite similar; when we divide up for soccer or basketball, even at the elementary school level, there can be a massive difference in skill levels which can be discouraging for some students.

Fencing attracts a different type of student than would be playing ball sports. As École Cedardale Principal, Michelle LaBounty, pointed out in the North Shore News article — fencing sparks student imagination. “For students who do a lot of reading, fencing attaches an element of reality to their books,” she said. “It takes them to another time.”

The number of young people participating is relatively small in Canada, so the opportunity to compete provincially, nationally or internationally, is a real possibility.

While the sport does not have a rich history in Canada, it does in many other places around the world, and our community is very diverse. Many of our families grew up in countries where fencing is part of the culture,

It will be exciting to see what happens next. We want students to be more active and it is exciting how passionate so many of our students have become in such a short time about fencing. When I speak with Igor, he talks about the future Olympians he envisions from our partnership. It is quite incredible.

Nice one. Yes you are correct, Fencing is a wonderful sport. Me and all of the students on my course at the university of Derby in Buxton are coaching fencing to children in schools, hopefully one day when children we teach grow up and become a teenager they will be able to take up fencing as a hobby and you never know they could be in the olympics some day. If you know anybody that would like to be taught fencing then post on my wordpress wall and i will be in touch.

Congratulations on a very well written and insightful article. It is always helpful to get an educator’s and administrator’s view on the sport of Fencing. I was working in the United States during the early 2000’s when fencing experienced a sudden boom and explosion across their country. One of my friends, a teacher in the Houston school system, even managed to get fencing named as a ‘Varsity’ sport in his school. This was something unheard of in a football/basketball/baseball culture.

Your article resonates strongly with my two of my beliefs. This first belief is that culture follows passion. Igor Gantsevich has the great ability to connect with the children and share his passion for fencing. It is exciting to see this passion beginning to spread.

The second belief is that the world is a wide, wonderful place full of unknown paths and opportunities. I believe that we must constantly fight society’s incessant push to narrow our gaze and your willingness to try out a ‘fringe’ sport gave me hope. Diversity, be it in education or opinion or sport, leads to growth and a positive path into the future.

Your article spoke to me about passion and diversity. This was a very refreshing change from a typical news day.

Thanks Brad – a real honour that you took the time to read and comment on my post. It is tremendously exciting what is happening with fencing in our community. I think this is the start of something quite special. It has be a real pleasure to work with Igor and the others involved. As I noted – they are all first class people!

I look forward to you having the chance to see our programs in action.

Fencing is also a wonderful skill for actors as there are many roles in period-piece movies and even in cartooning/blue-screened style movies where this kind of skill is invaluable. I would also love to see stage fighting taught as it might bring a few more of our boys/men back into the world of theatre and acting.

What a fun post, way to go Igor!
The ‘cool factor’ is definitely there with Fencing. It’s exciting to see kids turned on to a new sport, where they are learning focusing and critical thinking skills as well as being active. That, combined with the young instructors has been a very successful combination in our district. Other fringe sports such as Field Hockey and Martial Arts are also popular among our students, and it’s great when these can be taught in the schools too. Thanks for being on the leading ‘edge’ with these sports in West Van!

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